FOL14 - Week 22 -

May's topic for the Focus on Life 2014 weekly photography challenge is 

'In, At and About' 

and for week 22, Sally (The Studio Sublime) gave us this prompt:

"This week we are focusing on what is IN Bloom!"

The only thing blooming here in the desert right now is the heat.

Well, there's tons of saguaro blooms that are looking pretty awesome right now, but I couldn't capture a good pic of those this week.

And, bougainvilleas and bird of paradise are always in bloom here when it's summer and super hot, but the pics I took of those didn't come out as well as this shot of one of the last roses in our rose bush. 

The pics from the top looking down on the rose showed all the scorched petals, so I chose this angle because it looked the prettiest!

Okay, back to the bloomin' heat!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Beauty In Bloom!

Cheers,

~Shel~

*A little side note,...

Today would have been my Dad's 95th Birthday. 

Happy Birthday Dad!! 

Miss you so much - every single day! 

 

May 31st, 1979- My 8th Grade Graduation and my Dad's 60th Birthday

An InLinkz Link-up

Focusing on Life - Week 7 - Beauty of Flowers

It's week 7 of Focusing on Life: 52 Photos

 

 

This week Sally's prompt for us was

"Beauty of Flowers"

 

"This week take a moment to bring a little happiness

to your soul and enhance your well being.

Take a moment to enjoy the beauty of flowers."

I Enjoy Snapping Pics of Flowers!!

 

 
No prompt needed on this one!

 

However, with the freeze a couple of weeks back and the one this week as well, our rose garden is 'rose-less', and there's no other flowers blooming at the moment either, so I'm sharing with you some of the flowers I've captured in the past.

 

Click to Enlarge Photos

 

These are from my backyard, from the White Mountains of AZ, from San Onofre Beach on Camp Pendleton in California and from my trip to Italy last fall.

Sommocolonia, Italy (Tuscany)

 

 

Yes, I have a slight flower obsession.

 It's as bad as my obsession with snapping pics of doors, locks/keys and door knockers. 

 

 

Can you tell?! ;-)

 

 

 

 

"Just living is not enough.

One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower. "

~ Hans Christian  Andersen ~

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Flower Power, Baby!!

Cheers,
~Shel~

Click HERE to go to the Studio Sublime
and check out all the other lovely flowers today!!

Happy Mother's Day

I think my Mom would have liked these,....

Enjoy Your Day!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Celebrating Moms Everywhere!

Cheers,

~Shel~

Mother Nature's Having Fun!

Hey - check out this funky rose that was growing in our rose garden! 

I don't know about you, but I've never seen one with a solid stripe down the middle.

I mean we've got all kinds of mixed up colors and blends and what not, but nothing like this before.  Wild, eh?

Guess Mother Nature decided to have some fun!

Everyone have a good weekend!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Stripes!

Cheers,

~Shel~

This or That Thursday!

I'm busy getting ready for my jewelry show this Saturday at my sis's house. 

Plus, the hubby's birthday is on Sunday.

 And, I'm also trying to snap some pics of the arm candy I created for the Wrapped, Stacked and Layered Bracelet Challenge and Blog Hop being hosted this Saturday the 21st by Tracy Statler over at Make Bracelets. 

But I did get a chance to snap a few pics of some of the gorgeous flowers blooming in our yard this week.

As always, click to enlarge photos.

Oh, and Coco dropped in to say "Hi", too!

Have a great Thursday everyone!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and This or That!

Cheers,

~Shel~

*Playing along with This or That Thursday over on Deb Duty's Blog today. Won't you join me?*

I Heart Macro - It's Sunday!!

Today's post is about Beautiful Memories.

It's about Before and After.

It's about Death and Rebirth.

It's about the Obvious and the Hidden. 

As always, click to enlarge the photos

Wilted, "Rusted" and Wrinkled

My rose bushes got a bit of a 'hair-cut' last week.

There's currently no beautiful roses to look out the window and see, but I've got MEMORIES.  These memories evoke soft, peaceful, happy and beautiful feelings.

Fresh, Vibrant, Soft

Then there's "Rust" MEMORIES.   These memories evoke sadness, loss, fright, and perhaps a bit of longing, too. Longing for what once was,....

Burned, Rusted

Even when the obvious beauty has been removed, there's hidden beauty beneath what once was,...

Heavy, Strong

I'm linking up today with I Heart Macro over at
Studio Waterstone - won't you join me?

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Rusted, Rose Colored Memories

Cheers,

~Shel~

Useful, Salvaged

P.S. ~ You have to admit, the rust would make for a very cool color palette, don't you think? ~

I Heart Macro - It's Sunday!!

Beautiful Colors!

As Always, Click To Enlarge.

Linking up with I Heart Macro Today,...

I Heart Macro - It's Sunday!!

It's I Heart Macro over at Studio Waterstone again this Sunday - You Do NOT Want To Miss This!!

 (Trust Me!)

Here's what I saw up-close this week.

(I messed with the settings and
it's not getting good ones up-close again!)

Wish my pictures were as good as the real thing!

(click on images to make them larger)

"Flying What? On My Roses"

Un-ripened Grapefruit

Little Bug Snug in a Rose

Where All The Pics I Take Come From - The Hubby's Rose Garden

Enjoy all the great pics over at Studio Waterstone today!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Get Close-Up, Baby!

Cheers,

~Shel~

Up Close

I've been admiring the 'I heart Macro' pics and following along over on Studio Waterstone for a bit now and decided to hop on in and try it myself.

When it's not a bazillion degrees here in the desert, our rose garden produces the most beautifully colored roses - they're amazing.  The hubby prunes them and keeps the landscapers from butchin' them to pieces each month (they're not allowed to touch his roses!!) 

He brings me vases of roses all the time and puts them in my studio so I can enjoy their beauty and their amazing smell!

Right now it's a bit hot out and they're nowhere to be found, so looking back on some of the pics of them makes me smile and long for cooler days and more roses!

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Beautiful Macro Roses!

Cheers,

~Shel~